The
design proposed is a multi stage stratified random sample, based on 26
strata:

14
are the urban districts with 300,000 population or more (#1 to #14)

2
are the largest urban districts from the Patagoniaregion
(#15, #16)

4
are the urban districts of 2,000 to 299,999 people in all regions except Patagoniaand
Metropolitana (#17 to #20)

1
stratum is composed of urban districts of 2,000 to 99,999 people in Patagoniaregion
(#21)

5 are composed of the rural
population from each region (#22 to #26)

From
strata #17 to #21, two urban districts will be selected, with probability
proportional to size.

From
strata #22 to #26, two rural areas will be selected by drawing random
coordinates on each stratum’s map.

Sample
points in the table below will be determined within the 26 urban districts
(strata #1 to #21), and within the 10 rural areas (strata #22 to #26).

The
determination of an urban sample point rests on the listing of radios1,
requiring two steps:

Selecting radios with
probability proportional to size.

Selecting the initial
block by drawing random coordinates on the maps of those radios.

A
rural sample point will be determined by the nearest locality to the
random coordinates, where 3 grouped and 6 dispersed individuals could be
interviewed.

A
urban sample point will be formed by 3 blocks. A map with these blocks,
numbered 1 to 3, will be provided to every interviewer. The starting
household will be marked in block 1.

Three
persons will be interviewed within each urban sample point. The field
procedures are described in the following flow chart.

The
completed questionnaires will be immediately edited after interviewers
finish each sample point. The edited questionnaires will be coded before
being recorded.

The
data file must include a weight field, given that the design is not a self
weighted one. The weights, for estimating totals will rest on population
size, according to the usual formulas for multi stage stratified sampling.

Sample
distribution:

Stratum
#

Stratum
name

#
Urban districts (a)

#
Rural areas (b)

Cases
in (a) or (b)

Total
cases

Sample
points

1

Gran
Buenos Aires

1

450

450

150

2

Ciudad
de Buenos Aires

1

150

150

50

3

Gran
Córdoba

1

75

25

4

Gran
Rosario

1

75

75

25

5

Gran
Mendoza

1

30

30

10

6

Gran San
Miguel de Tucumán

1

30

30

10

7

Gran
La Plata

1

30

30

10

8

Mar del
Plata

1

30

30

10

9

Gran
Salta

1

30

30

10

10

Gran Santa
Fe

1

30

30

10

11

Gran San
Juan

30

30

10

12

Gran
Resistencia

1

30

30

10

13

Santiago
del Estero

1

30

30

10

14

Gran
Corrientes

1

30

30

10

15

Neuquén-Plottier

1

30

30

10

16

Comodoro
Rivadavia

1

30

30

10

17

Cuyo

2

30

60

10

18

Noreste

2

30

60

10

19

Noroeste

30

60

10

20

Pampeana

2

30

60

10

21

Patagonia

2

30

60

10

22

Cuyo
(rural)

2

9

18

3

23

Noreste
(rural)

2

9

18

3

24

Noroeste
(rural)

2

9

18

3

25

Pampeana
(rural)

2

9

18

3

26

Patagonia(rural)

2

9

18

3

26

10

1500

435

Timeline
for pre-fielding and fielding activities

Weeks

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Sampleselection (radios, rural areas)

Materials
needed for drawing the sample

X

X

X

X

Sample
point maps

X

X

X

Setting up the field
work

Interviewer
and editor instructions

X

X

Printing
material for pre testing

X

Pre
testing

X

Final
questionnaire and instructions

X

Printing
questionnaires, instructions, etc.

X

Assembling
the interviewer kit

X

Materials
spatial distribution

X

Training
interviewers

X

Coordinating field
work

Assigning
interviewers and editors tasks

X

Interviewing
and editing time

X

X

X

X

X

X

Verification
(20% of the questionnaries)

X

X

X

X

X

X

Organizing
material reception

X

X

X

X

X

X

Processing the data

Coding

X

X

X

X

X

X

Double
independent recording

X

X

X

X

X

X

Cleaning
up the data base

X

Tayloring
and recording weights

X

Sending
the data base

X

1INDEC divides the urban
districts into census fractions, and the later into smaller units
called “radios”. A radio has several blocks with near 300
households each. For each urban district the listing of its radios can
be obtained. These listings provide for each radio their population
and level of overcrowding.